Two strokes ? Been there, done that, move on. No, only joking, but for this show we did something away from
the norm. The whole reason for starting Diff'rent Strokers in the first place was us wanting to see displays of
certain bikes that no-one else ever seemed to do. The RC30 Owners Club always put on a cracking display of
VFR/RVF750R's but what about the other homologation specials ? Even when the magazines feature them they only manage
to put three together. We thought we could do better.

The Suzuki's are probably the hardest to find and least-often seen but that was easy - Tim owns a '89 GSX-R750RK and Darin
has one of the '86 GSX-R750 Ltd's in original Yoshimura Japan colours complete with dry clutch, flatslide carbs and
electronic anti-dive. We'd discussed our idea with Chris from the RC30 Club at one of the shows last year and he said
he'd be keen to get involved. He offered us his RC45 and put us in touch with Rob B who was willing to bring his
RC30 along too.

Rob E who'd generously brought bikes along to the last two shows had recently bought a mint ZXR750R-K1 and we were offered
a ZXR750R-M1 very early on by someone on one of the other forums. Sadly this didn't work out in the end, but after a
mild panic it was discovered that Chris owns one of those too.

We thought we'd struggle to find an OW01 but this problem was solved early on when Darin bought one ! We wanted an R7
to complete the set but there's not many out there and they're all tucked away safe. We tracked one down and at one
point it was pencilled in to come but it was then sold on and never appeared in the end. Of course, during the show
we spoke to someone who turned out to own one and would have been willing to lend it to us - doh !

We could have aimed for a YZF750SP of course and we probably should have done, but we got fixated on the R7 and by the time
we wrote it off it was too late for alternatives. We'd tried to find a GSX-R750WR-SP to no avail and it would have
been nice to put an 851/888SP Ducati in the mix too. Something tells us we'll be doing this again in the future
though...

In the Paddock Pavilion once more, we found the addition of an extra club had diminished our stand space a bit, but with
Rob E's idea of lining the bikes up as if on a starting grid it looked great. The usual backdrop, banners and lights
were deployed and we had a table at one end with the new innovation for this show : a screen showing a slideshow of the
bikes on display plus other info and pictures explaining the club and how to get involved. Having completed set-up,
we headed off to see the rest of the show and scour the autojumble for rare parts (no chance).

Reactions to the bikes were mixed. An RC30 always attracts people of course and quite a few people understood the
significance of the display and what all the bikes were. But we also got the impression that a lot of people didn't
know exactly what they were looking at and dismissed us as just a handful of 'modern plastic' bikes. Very few people
bothered to view the slideshow. Having won awards for the stand for the last two years, this time our only
recognition was a Highly Commended rosette for the OW01.

Mick Grant was the guest of honour for the show, and on Saturday afternoon he wheeled his KR750 race bike out in the sun
and fired it up for the crowd. As in previous years, an eclectic assortment of noisy bikes were rounded up and the
proud owners interviewed over the tannoy. Because this happens right outside the pavilion, it has the benefit of
bringing the public back, especially those who had missed us out on the way in, deeply focussed on the search for a points
cover for a 1937 Francis Barnett.

When the 'sound-off' thing happened again on Sunday, we were asked if we could supply some bikes to take part. Having
embarrassed himself a couple of years earlier with his TZR, Tim rapidly nominated Rob B to take the RC30 out and then ran
off to hide. Rob E said he'd demo his ZXR too, quickly followed by Darin on the '86 GSX-R. Chris was feeling a
bit ill but his other half Victoria leapt at the chance to show off the RC45 and of course Tim then felt left out and
wheeled his RR down the ramp too. Everyone was interviewed separately on the mic before we all fired the bikes up and
did a slow lap of the parade ring.

Darin parked the Suzuki up outside the pavilion and the rest of the bikes joined it. This drew a crowd so the other
two were brought out too and the seven looked fantastic together in the sun. So good in fact that we dismantled the
now-empty stand and packed it all away, leaving the bikes outside where they could be appreciated.

Grateful thanks are due to Chris, Victoria, Rob B and Rob E for bringing their stunning bikes along and for making the
weekend very enjoyable once again. We'll definitely be returning to this theme sometime in the future.